In: Statistics and Probability
Given the following Table which summarizes the educational background of a group of business executives answer the following questions. Suppose an executive is selected at random
| 
 Degree Level  | 
 Engineering Degree  | 
 Business Degree  | 
| 
 BS  | 
 172  | 
 28  | 
| 
 MS  | 
 55  | 
 56  | 
| 
 PhD  | 
 7  | 
 1  | 
(a) What is the probability that the executive has an engineering degree?
(b) If the selected executive is known to have an engineering degree, what is the probability
that he/she has a BS degree?
(c) Are "engineering degree" and "MS degree" independent?
(a)
From the given data, the following Table is calculated:
| Engineering Degree | Business Degree | Total | |
| BS | 172 | 28 | 200 | 
| MS | 55 | 56 | 111 | 
| PhD | 7 | 1 | 8 | 
| Total | 234 | 85 | 319 | 
P(Engineering Degree) = 234/319 = 0.7335
So,
Answer is:
0.7335
(b)
P(BS/Engineering Degree) = P(BS AND Engineering Degree) / P(Engineering Degree)
= 172/234
= 0.7350
So
Answer is:
0.7350
(c)
P(Engineering Degree) = 234/319 = 0.7335
P(MS Degree) = 111/319 = 0.3480
So,
P(Engineering Degree) X P(MS Degree) = 0.7335 X 0.3480 = 0.2552
P(Engineering Degree AND MS Degree) = 55/319 = 0.1724
Since P(Engineering Degree) X P(MS Degree) = 0.2552 
 P(Engineering Degree AND MS Degree) = 0.1724, the events
"engineering degree" and "MS degree" are not independent.